The Amy Cokayne Column: Lawn mowers, Adele & Swapping Shirts
In the second instalment of her TikTik Women's Six Nations column, Amy reflects on a memorable weekend in Northampton.
We were released on Sunday after the Scotland game, and due to the eight-day turnaround, we got the Monday at home too, which was a bonus – even if it was mainly spent doing washing, washing and more washing... The sun was out, and I even managed to mow my lawn, which was long overdue!
I couldn’t write this week without mentioning injury. We picked up a couple of injuries during the game but hopefully the girls will still be able to play another part in the tournament. I don’t know why, but I find it easier to accept injury when it happens in a game compared to training, which leads me on to Detysha Harper (aka camp bestie), who suffered an injury in the buildup to the Italy game. Tysh will leave a massive hole in camp. She’s not only my gym buddy but the energy and happiness she brings to camp is unmatched. Get well soon Tysh!
It was another home game for us, so after the final session on Friday we all drove ourselves to Northampton - a full 90 minutes of a personal concert from me. Lots of Adele was played, and I hit all the high notes (you’ll just have to take my word for it). What I might lack in talent I certainly make up for in enthusiasm.
Saturday was mainly spent intermittently watching rugby, napping and eating; not a bad day if you ask me! The day finished with the shirt presentation, a first with our new captain, Marlie Packer. This was a real changing of the guard moment with Marlie welcoming two new caps into the Red Roses family. It was obvious she was nervous, but she smashed it.
Midds (Simon Middleton) described to the group the journey my Harlequins teammate, Emily ‘Robbo’ Robinson, had taken to get to her first cap. She had been in camp the year leading up to the World Cup but unfortunately suffered an injury which kept her out for 10 months and ruled her out of the trip to New Zealand. It felt like this cap had been a long time coming.
Franklin’s Gardens was probably the best arrival at a ground I’ve ever experienced. There was a sea of people waiting to welcome us off the bus which gave me goosebumps because you could feel the energy. The path to the pitch was lined with people wishing us luck, a truly amazing experience. Thankfully the sun decided to turn up for the fixture; we know we like to play some good expansive rugby, as do Italy, so Mother Nature really did play her part in allowing us to put on a show for the crowd.
Before the warm-up I did a quick interview with Ashleigh Wilmot, something I’ve never done before but it was nice to get the interaction with the crowd. I’m not sure Ashleigh could quite believe that I was writing this column myself, but I assured her I was. So, Ashleigh if you’re reading this one, yes, it’s really me!
The game felt slightly slower this week, I didn’t feel like I had forgot to pack my lungs, but the back three might have a different opinion. They were on fire running in some amazing tries, and half the time I don’t think I was even in the same half of the pitch when they were scoring! At one point I thought we were going to go the whole game without scoring a driving maul, but eventually it came.
Due to injuries/retirements I was in the strategy group this week, which means we all walk in together at half time to give our initial thoughts. I looked around the group it made me think about something Midds had said earlier in the week: in the World Cup final we had 1123 caps, last week against Scotland we had 740 and this week we had just 538.
I swapped shirts with my opposite number after the game which I think confused a few people who were giving me the Italy page to sign, which did make me laugh. The Italians are extremely friendly and it’s always nice catching up with Giada Franco, my ex-Harlequins teammate.
With the job done in Northampton and two wins on the board we’ve now got a fallow week in the Championship. We have three training days before a couple of days off (and maybe an Easter egg or two), before the team starts to look ahead to the Wales fixture.
